A fierce debate was conducted at the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday after rapporteur Ivo Vajgl presented the draft resolution on Macedonia, in which the EP recommends for the ninth time that the Council should open membership negotiations with the country, MIA reports.

Alojz Peterle, the Chairman of the Macedonia-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee, stressed that Vajgl's draft resolution was realistic, constructive, and pro-European, showing good sense for Macedonia's problems.

"The opening of accession talks will propel forward the resolution of the open issues," he said.

Richard Howitt, the former rapporter for Macedonia at the EP, said it was shameful that the EP was the only EU institution trying to resolve the name issue which was being misused for political pursuits.